Gunz For Hire Headlines RAW's 15-Year Anniversary With a Full Line-Up That Means Business

Fifteen years. That's how long RAW has been the underground heartbeat of the Dutch hardcore and raw hardstyle scene — and the anniversary edition isn't arriving quietly. Gunz For Hire, the duo synonymous with the event's identity, has just unleashed the complete line-up for the milestone celebration, and if you thought they were going to play it safe for year fifteen, you were wrong.

The Legacy of RAW in Numbers

Since its inception, RAW has carved out a reputation as one of the most uncompromising events in the Q-dance ecosystem. While festival giants like Defqon.1 and Dominator command enormous open-air stages, RAW has always operated with a different philosophy — raw, relentless, and rooted in the sound that built this scene from the concrete up. Fifteen editions. Thousands of loyal attendees who didn't come for the pyrotechnics. They came for the kick drum.

Gunz For Hire — known to the faithful for anthems that have anchored festival sets across Europe — aren't just performing at this anniversary. They are the anniversary. Their presence at the top of the bill signals that this isn't a nostalgia trip. It's a statement.

What the Full Line-Up Signals

The release of the complete line-up confirms what insiders had been speculating for weeks: the 15th edition of RAW is stacked with artists who represent both the roots and the current trajectory of the sound. Expect a careful balance between veterans who helped define the event's identity and contemporary acts pushing the genre into new, harder territory.

For hardstyle and hardcore communities, a full line-up drop like this isn't just news — it's a ritual. Fans dissect every name, argue about set times before they're announced, and begin planning travel routes from across the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany within hours of the announcement going live.

RAW has never chased trends. That's exactly why it's still here at fifteen years, and why every name on this bill was chosen with intent.

Why This Anniversary Hits Different

In an era where event brands rise and fall within a few seasons, surviving fifteen years in the hardcore and raw hardstyle space demands something more than good bookings. It demands a community that shows up — repeatedly, fiercely, without question. RAW has that. The relationship between Gunz For Hire and this event's audience is one of the most durable in the genre, built on years of sets that left no room for hesitation and no space for filler.

The full line-up reveal also arrives at a moment when the raw hardstyle scene is experiencing a genuine global surge. Artists like Sara Landry have introduced the heavier, more industrial-adjacent sound to audiences far outside the traditional Q-dance demographic, and that momentum is feeding directly back into events like RAW — raising the stakes for what a lineup needs to deliver.

What to Expect on the Night

• A headline set from Gunz For Hire calibrated to fifteen years of history
• Supporting acts spanning the full spectrum of the RAW sound — from pounding raw hardstyle to industrial-edged hardcore
• A crowd that has been waiting for this since the last edition wrapped
• Production that prioritizes the music over spectacle — in keeping with the event's founding philosophy

Tickets for previous RAW editions have historically moved fast once the full line-up lands. If this anniversary follows the pattern — and there's no reason to think it won't — availability will shrink quickly. The hardcore community doesn't wait around.

Fifteen years of RAW. One night to mark it. Gunz For Hire at the top of the bill. The full line-up is out. The only question left is whether you're going to be there.